[Ryan Babb]

unfortunately i think your best bet in this situation is going to be an external capture device that will convert the SDI/HDMI to Thunderbolt for use in a mac.

PowerMac – 2 x 2.4 Xeon
12 GB 1066 DDR3
Radeon HD 5870
Kona LHi

[Ryan Babb]

Slight crosspost from another thread but figured the info is relavant to your question.

The studio I work in currently owns 3 HM650U’s. The 3 we purchased were (I believe) some of the first to ship to the US. Our primary focus is split between ENG work for a newspaper and commercial work for clients. I feel like we’ve really put these things through the paces in a variety of conditions over the past year.

General picture issues:

I have DEFINITELY noticed grain in the blacks and just an overall grain/fuzz in general on all formats/frame rates/bitrates. Recording footage via SDI to our KiPro in ProRes 422HQ helps things a bit… but, in my experience, anything recorded to the memory cards is going to have a grainy/fuzzy quality. Maybe there is a magic setting I’m completely missing but I have been relatively dissapointed with the pictures for any higher-end HD delivery. I would shower many internet karma points upon anybody with said ‘magic setting.’

Other than this detail I feel the picture is acceptable and, perhaps, is fixable via a setting I am not familiar with. We’ve delivered footage across all mediums that clients are satisfied with. My standards for image quality are probably higher than most.

Lens:

Great zoom, very wide-angle. Definitely feel like this is a major strength of the camera.

Streaming/Web functionality:

Very nice set of features. Live streaming takes some semi-advanced network configuration that might turn some off, but any IT dept should easily be able to handle and set things up. Quality is, as usual, 100% dependent on your connection at the location. Mobile hotspots (which JVC loves to tout in the documentation of the 650) are basically useless in any setting with a sizeable crowd where cell towers are saturated.

For a reporter stand-up type of shot at an uncrowded location, the streaming works fantastic.

File transfer via FTP and remote camera control are also solid features that work well.

Chroma key use:

My only experience using them with keying is via our TriCaster’s software-based keying and via Premiere/AE in post.

The keying in the TriCaster is passable for streaming web delivery but, again, I feel it really lacks sharpness especially when your talent is superimposed over one of the TriCaster’s live sets which are extremely crisp and clean. It is very noticable on recorded output. For HD broadcast, I believe it would be unacceptable. I do realize that the TriCaster can’t really be compared with a dedicated hardware keyer so take the above with a grain (lol) of salt.

Keying in Premiere/AE, of course, produces much better results. Still, the overall grain issue persists. Much more acceptable for HD broadcast and web delivery.

Overall:

The 650’s are absolutely fantastic for quick-turnaround ENG work at this price range, maybe the best (BBC went ‘all in’ with the 650). Studio performance, however, leaves much to be desired. In hindsight… I wish we would have sacked one of the 650’s from our budget and spent a bit more for something that produces a higher quality image.

PowerMac – 2 x 2.4 Xeon
12 GB 1066 DDR3
Radeon HD 5870
Kona LHi

[Ryan Babb]

I know this thread is a bit old but the studio I work in currently owns 3 HM650U’s. The 3 we purchased were (I believe) some of the first to ship to the US. Our primary focus is split between ENG work for a newspaper and commercial work for clients. I feel like we’ve really put these things through the paces in a variety of conditions over the past year.

I have DEFINITELY noticed grain in the blacks and just an overall grain/fuzz in general on all formats/frame rates/bitrates. Recording footage via SDI to our KiPro at 720p60 ProRes 422HQ helps things a bit… but, in my experience, anything recorded to the memory cards is going to have a grainy quality. Maybe there is a magic setting I’m completely missing but I have been relatively dissapointed with the pictures for any higher-end HD delivery. I would shower many internet karma points upon anybody with said ‘magic setting.’

My only experience using them with keying is via our TriCaster’s software-based keying and via Premiere/AE in post.

The keying in the TriCaster is passable for streaming web delivery but, again, I feel it really lacks sharpness especially when your talent is superimposed over one of the TriCaster’s live sets which are extremely crisp and clean. It is very noticable on recorded output. For HD broadcast, I believe it would be unacceptable. I do realize that the TriCaster can’t really be compared with a dedicated hardware keyer so take the above with a grain (lol) of salt.

Keying in Premiere/AE, of course, produces much better results. Still, the overall grain issue persists. Much more acceptable for HD broadcast and web delivery.

Overall the cameras are absolutely fantastic for quick-turnaround ENG work. Studio performance, however, leaves much to be desired. In hindsight… I wish we would have sacked one of the 650’s from our budget and spent a bit more for something that produces a higher quality image.

[Ryan Babb]

We are currently using a 455 in our web studio.

I’m hoping we’ll add an 855/8000 to the studio and keep the 455 for remote stuff.

PowerMac – 2 x 2.4 Xeon
12 GB 1066 DDR3
Radeon HD 5870
Kona LHi

[Ryan Babb]

Do you know of any other JVC forums with active communities?

I was so excited about the new firmware update for our cams, figured there would be tons of people talking about the live streaming and how they were using the new functionality. But I’ve found nothing.

There has to be a secret JVC discussion going on somewhere.

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JVC HM650
NewTek TriCaster